Monday, August 30, 2010

Since my husband is a jack-of-all-trades, I asked him to create a little patio area in our backyard, complete with a small fountain. See how wonderful it is to have such imagination as well as a versatile husband? I tell my ideas and my husband puts them into reality. ha! What a great arrangement.

Anyway, there came a moment of discouragement when he said bricks were far too expensive to buy. I would have to settle for gravel, instead. Not.

A call to Restore, a big recycling store, the proceeds of which benefit Habitat for Humanity, revealed they had bricks! Guess how much they were? 40 cents each. Now that's a bargain and a half.

Three or four trips later, in the trusty old 12 year old hatchback car, my wonderful husband delivered a big, gigantic pile of bricks, ready to be transformed into a beautiful mini-patio.

First, a huge pile of leaves from last fall had to be raked and bagged. My husband enlisted the help of a friend to do this wretched task.

(After the old "mountain" of leaves disappeared, this is what the project looked like:)

After clearning the ground, at last, he measured the brick area using geometry! He put a stick in the middle of the area and attaches string. Then, somehow, he got a measurement of how the bricks should be laid out in perfect symmetry.

Now if you think this explanation borders on ignorance, you are absolutely right. Never, ever has any geometric reasoning made sense to me. The most important thing is it worked for the patio!

He started laying out the bricks. When he came to an area that needed the bricks to be rounded, he chiseled into the regular brick and voila! , a rounded piece evolved.

(Taking shape):

Can you believe that in one day, yes, one day, he laid out the entire patio?

The next day, my husband, the brick layer, covered everything with cement for grouting.
(Wheelbarrow plus buckets of cement and Honey Cat supervising water drips from the hose):

(Yuk. Sloppy grouting gets applied):

By the end of the second day, my husband completed the project. Then he planted white and red impatiens near the patio. Now, we will have to be on the lookout for a fountain and maybe even a little bench or lounge chair or two.

I love looking out the back door and seeing the mini-brick patio. The whole project is a shining example of "where there's a will, there's a way." Talk about a metamorphosis! A former pile of rotting leaves has been transformed into a very sweet brick mini-patio. Hip hip hooray!

If there were such a thing, I'd submit my huband 's name for the "brick mason" of the year award.

Now hop on over to Between Naps on the Porch to see other metamorphosis projects by simply clicking on Susan's button in the sidebar.

Gorgeous. I wish my husband was a little handy. I laid a patio myself once when I was younger. It is hard work and took me about a week. But I did have the little ones to tend to or I would have finished it sooner. your honey did a fab job!

Love, love, love it. Bravo to your husband. Me and geometry don't understand each other either. :) In that first picture, it almost looks like the patio is laid out in a leaf shape because you can't see it is connected to the fence on the right side. I thought you went from a pile of leaves to a leaf shaped patio. It's gorgeous however you look at it. And with flowers blooming, the peaceful lapping of a little fountain and a little bistro table, you are all set for a lovely afternoon. Best wishes for the week ahead, Tammy PS with the muffin recipe, I throw in all kinds of stuff to change it up -- usually some chopped pecans, oatmeal and cinnamon make their way in. Delish and always perfect. :)

What a sweet hubby! And a hard worker, too! Your patio turned out so sweet, Susan! A fountain is going to look just perfect there, and you're going to love to hear the sound of the splashing water......mmmmmm!

Ohhhhhhh, thanks so much everybody. Your sweet comments made me sooooo happy. Glad you like my honey's brick patio. When we get the fountain in, I'll take more pictures! Love, Susan P.S. You are all SO AWESOME! I love you girls!

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